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That was okay, though. The mini-missiles would serve just fine here. And the smoke would--

Bloodeye's movement changed suddenly. Instead of the red smoke enveloping Abbas, it shrank back down and compressed, reforming Bloodeye's human body.

The unexpected maneuver made Abbas wary as he waited for the attack to come. If Bloodeye wasn't going to try to smother him with smoke and acid, then what did he intend to do? Stall for time while Crowe recovered? There might've been wisdom in that, but Abbas wasn't going to let it happen so easily.

He pushed the jets for another full burn and torpedoed himself straight toward Bloodeye.

What happened next, however, was outside all possible predictions or expectations.

Abbas slammed into him, just like he'd previously done to Crowe and Konig, but Bloodeye held firm, holding onto Abbas' torso with both arms and legs as if trying to crush the armor with his bare hands.

That was most certainly impossible. The suit, even in its currently battered state, was more than durable enough to withstand the enhanced strength of any servant.

But then Bloodeye began to change. His face distorted, flashing between sickly grays and purples. His eyes and nose began bleeding, and he coughed up a nasty red glob right onto Abbas' visor, blocking most of his vision but not all.

The man's jaw stretched and grew, realigning itself, popping out teeth as big as a crocodile's. His eyes bulged grotesquely, looking as if they might burst until his skull reshaped itself as well--and not for the better. It became lumpy and stretched, with entirely new bones sticking out, looking like broken horns. His nose shifted, too, twisting diagonally. It flared out and grew, while also melting partway into the rest of his plumpening face.

And then other, smaller faces began to appear in the man's flesh. All horrified and screaming, like something out of a nightmare. A literal monster.